Finished reading The Raven's Gift
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Finished reading Trail of Lightning
Finished reading Tread of Angels
Rated Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care 8/10
<div>In this book's conclusion, Mariame Kaba writes:</div><blockquote>There are times when I feel overwhelmed about what to do, where to start. The problems seems so big and so intractable. In those times, I ask myself a set of questions that serve as guideposts to ground me:<br>1. What resources exist so I can better educate myself?<br>2. Who's already doing work around this injustice?<br>3. Do I have the capacity to offer concrete support and help them?<br>4. How can I be constructive?</blockquote><div><br><br>Everywhere seems to be throwing up their reading lists now that could be titled "Read This Because Who Know WTF 2025 Will Bring," and it can be hard to know which books are worth your time. This is worth your time.</div>
Finished reading The Terror
Reviewed Summary & Study Guide The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
<a href="https://smus.com/books/brief-wondrous-life-of-oscar-wao">Full review on smus.com</a>
Finished reading Frankenstein in Baghdad
Rated Life Is Strange Vol. 5: Coming Home 8/10
<div>I haven't played the video game this is based on, and previously, I'd only read Vol. 1 of the comic, but this holds up even if you're not fully versed in the universe(s) involved. The summary at the beginning of the various characters is enough to get your bearings, and the story in this volume otherwise stands well on its own, even though it does somewhat end in a cliffhanger. The artwork is also good.</div>
Finished reading A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe
Finished reading Scarlet Odyssey
Rated Joyride: A Memoir 8/10
<div>Susan Orlean has a particular talent for finding the story in just about anything, and that's probably why I was first drawn to her magazine writing before I even registered her name, only realizing later whose writing I found compelling. In Joyride, Orlean looks back over her life and career, telling us what made her the person that she is, and why she feels compelled to tell stories that we might never otherwise notice.<br><br>I haven't read every book of hers — just The Orchid Thief and The Library Book — but I used to have a New Yorker subscription, and I can remember buying, during some airport layover, the issue of Vogue during some airport layover. And I was there, Frodo! I was there the night of Susan Orlean is Drunk-Tweeting! ha (Really, we were ALL losing our minds in 2020, so I think she's allowed.)<br><br>Orlean brings that same "tell me about an interesting person" energy to her own life, and I enjoyed reading this, even though I want to throw her first husband into the sun. (He's dead now, but still.) I also discovered that our children graduated college at the same time. We were rained on together!<br><br>If you've enjoyed any of her other work, you'll like this one.</div>
Wants to read The Madwoman of Serrano
Rated Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind the Scenes at Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! on PBS 6/10
The writing in this is not exceptional, but the stories are interesting, particularly if you've seen a lot of the things Eaton has produced. The back end of the book is more or less affectionate promo for Downton Abbey (while only sort of mentioning the revival of Upstairs Downstairs, then half forgetting to resolve its narrative), but I like Downton Abbey, so that's all right. Not a bad read.
Wants to read The Phaeton Report
Finished reading The Sins on Their Bones
Rated Life & Times of Michael K 6/10
<div>I liked this, but it was not love. Nothing particularly wrong with the book, the writing is good, and I understand thematically what the story was doing, but it's not necessarily the sort of thing I'd have picked up on my own had I not been reading this for a yearly challenge list (this particular entry was for "Award-winning book from the year you were born"). And that's fine! You may like it better, and it's short.</div>
Finished reading Roadside Picnic
Wants to read Un pianista de provincias
Finished reading A Darker Shade of Magic
Wants to read A Day of Fallen Night
Wants to read A Conjuring of Light
Finished reading The Old Drift